The concept of a blending or mixing system being portable is not new. Portable concrete batch plants are common as typified by the U.S. Pat. No. 3,448,866 to Perry et al. They are transported horizontally and when the construction site is reached, they are elevated to a vertical position by a variety of methods, one of which is taught by Perry.
Also, asphalt batch plants are transported in sections by a plurality of trucks and are erected at the construction site, as shown by the U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,193 to Milstead. This batch plant as well as the one previously mentioned are supported on a structural steel I beam frame rather than a semi-monocoque steel silo, as in the present invention.
Mobile batch plants have been limited to modest size and they have been unsuitable for larger plants by reason of the massive weight and size of the tower structure.
Plastic resin blending systems such as the type of the present invention have been built in stationary I beam steel towers of relatively large size which are in turn surrounded by a building structure to insulate them from the elements. Their horizontal cross-sectional size has been in a range between 600 sq. feet and 1,200 sq. feet and up to 60 feet or more in height.